The Church of Heos
Overview The Church of Heos is one of the oldest and most powerful institutions in Kanatral. Its power lies not only in its position as prominence and control in Heoden, but also as a huge store house of accumulated knowledge and lore much of the rest of the world no longer has. Unfortunately, much of this knowledge is stored in places of safe keeping and is only accessible by the highest priests in the church. Equally unfortunate is that much of the knowledge that is passed down is heavily colored by the church's fanaticism against all things against the will of Heos. Interestingly enough, it is the only religion which officially worships Heos even though most other religions still pay homage to him as the creator. This is likely due to the perception in many religions that Heos no longer actively affects the mortal realm. This viewpoint is, naturally, considered high blasphemy by the religion earning it enmity or misunderstanding with much of the rest of the world. Despite these things, priests in the service of the church are are sworn to do their upmost to uphold the blessed virtues provided by their tenets and in many communities - particularly small towns - the faithful priests are the people's first line of defense against the unnatural, primary source of succor, and main source of advice. Many towns in Heoden don't even have sheriffs or mayor elects, depending solely upon the priests living in the town for guidance. The Power of the Church While Heoden may have a king an a royal family, it is a well known fact that the High Priests of the church have more power than the monarchy and they are not afraid to use it. Aside from the wealth that flows through the church for its various services and tithes, the church of Heos has it's own standing armies as well. Several branches of the faith are home to established fighting orders that fight for the church and defend the land against 'unholy' incursions or simply help keep the peace. In many respects, these warriors of the faith are better trained and equipped than the king's own guard and are certainly superior to an lord's paid soldiers. The knights of the faith also defend the people and answer day to day calls for justice in the absence of a lord or established priest. Furthermore, if the church does not agree with a royal decree all it takes is a majority vote from the High Priests and such a decree is made null and void. Though this is rare since the church tends to leave governing to the nobles, it has happened more than once that the masses or even one of the clergy themselves petitions the church to intervene. In Heoden, no law is above the will of Heos and the church is the extension of that will. While some would think this leads to open bribery attempts, there is little or nothing a lord or even the king can offer a priest that he does not already have or more. This, coupled with the rather severe penalties involved in being declared a heretic if caught, have made this extremely rare. The Repository of Knowledge It is well known that the church has information on just about every subject in the world stored away. Priests traveled far and wide in the days before the church became as powerful as it is today, and all the knowledge and accumulated lore that was gathered sits safely in the church's hands. In hidden libraries, monks scribe and re-copy failing journals, reports and more everyday to ensure nothing is lost. Due to this, the High Priests know more about things such as Possession, Felthona, Deor, Bantiel and the like than anywhere else in the world. Indeed, priests of the faith of Heos are amongst the most successful at curing horrific maladies like the Rending even their success is quite limited. Despite all of this, much of the records are or have been re-copied over the years with a voice that speaks more of and for the church itself. To compound that, many of the priests in the field simply do not know all of these things despite typically knowing far more than any citizen. Organization As such a large and powerful institution, there are levels to the church's hierarchy and the faith itself has become well established into a certain ceremonial pattern that in truth holds more than just ceremony itself. Despite the fact that the church adheres strictly to the worship of only Heos himself, the faith also respects and acknowledges some of the higher angels as well for their actions against the Deor in ages past. These 'branches' of the church are exemplified by specific virtues much like the arch angels themselves. At Paleux Salay der Bann, the massive cathedral complex that's the seat of the church's power in Heoden, each sect has it's own section and wing. At the entrance of each sect, there is a massive marble statue depicting the arch angel in question while the cathedral's central gardens show all of these angels bowing before a artistic impression of Heos. Each sect is headed by a High Priest of the faith who governs members of his or her particular sect and is sworn to uphold their expressed virtue to the highest order. Councils between the High Priests are called almost daily to discuss the many issues brought to the church's attention while the Priest who 'leads' any such meeting changes with the topic as is necessary due to their sect's virtue. Regardless of how busy they are, at least one of the High Priests makes an appearance outside of the cathedral everyday to hear audiences and grievances and to pass out food or money to the masses. The sects are the following: * Capaus Cormut Archangel of Courage * Capaus Weisag Archangel of Wisdom * Capaus Rechguis Archangel of Justice * Capaus Mitgione Archangel of Compassion * Capaus Esparoff Archangel of Hope Distrust of Others Heoden is a land hit more often by the plagues of the Thonafold than most. Why this is, exactly, is unknown to scholars; though church doctrine states that it is because the Deor have a particular hatred towards anything symbolizing the Bantiel or Heos himself for foiling their plans to claim the Kanafold when all folds were one. Because of this, the average citizen and priest is very mistrusting of anything not native to their lands. Further, many priests see the worship of the lesser deities as heresy due to the fact that many of them were willing to rebel against Heos. This has made the nature of the church one that tends to imprison and 'question' first before trusting. This unfortunate line of thinking has caused the church and Heoden its share of troubles - particularly with Heoden's near neighbor Hoshijou. Many races that are not human face the scrutiny of the church in Heoden's lands and thusly the scrutiny of many of it's people. Some are locked up on sight and questioned before being allowed to walk the lands of Heos allowed at all. Arcane magic is typically frowned upon here as well, with some seeing it as a perversion of the powers granted to the priests. Despite this severe stance against the rest of the world, Heoden still prospers in general and has a multitude of other races inhabiting it albeit as a major minority. Some faiths, while not officially condoned by the church banned from Heoden as a source of worship, are allowed access to the church's vast libraries of knowledge in the interests of the greater good. The Darker Side of the Church Despite the good the church generally does for the people of Heoden, it's power and atmosphere of distrust has made it an unfortunate breeding ground for dark cultists and those who would seek to subtly use the church for their own ends. These people are typically dark souls who often secretly worship one of the Deor lords rather than Heos. Most of the Capaus have priests or knights specifically there to guard against such corruption in the church. These men and women often know quite well how to play by the church's rules and often seem purer than most. The cultists are highly secretive and know that if they should ever be caught by an inquisitor that the best end they can hope for is purging by flame.